Cover AVPN x Tatler's Front & Female: the evening brought together philanthropists, corporate leaders, investors, policymakers and changemakers (Photo: Ravin's Awesome Pictures)
AVPN x Tatler's Front & Female: the evening brought together philanthropists, corporate leaders, investors, policymakers and changemakers (Photo: Ravin's Awesome Pictures)
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Against the backdrop of growing inequality and economic uncertainty, AVPN and Tatler’s Front & Female convened a high-level dinner spotlighting the urgent need to invest in women across Asia
On the evening of Thursday, May 14, 48 influential guests gathered at the elegant Serai House, Seri Negara, for an intimate but charged conversation about one of Asia’s most pressing challenges: women’s economic empowerment in times of crisis. Convened through a collaboration between AVPN, Asia's largest social investment network, and Tatler’s Front & Female platform, the evening brought together philanthropists, corporate leaders, investors, policymakers and changemakers for a dinner that was equal parts inspiration and provocation.
The guest list alone spoke to the weight of the occasion. Among those present were Datuk Yvonne Chia, Professor Dato’ Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Dato Dr Hartini Zainuddin and Viviantie Sarjuni, alongside a broader cohort of leaders whose collective influence spans finance, law, healthcare and social impact.
Geraldine Beh, Tatler Executive Managing Director for Malaysia and Indonesia delivers opening remarks
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Setting the tone
The evening was opened by Geraldine Beh, Tatler Malaysia’s Executive Managing Director for Malaysia and Indonesia, who wasted no time in grounding the gathering in its urgency. “As we gather here, millions of women across Asia are being left behind,” she said. “Not by chance, but by design. By laws that don’t protect them. By systems that were never built for them. By doors to capital and opportunity that remain firmly closed.” Her words set a deliberate tone: this was not a celebratory dinner, but a call to action.
Read more: How AVPN is putting women at the centre of philanthropy and investment in Asia
The evening brought together influential voices including AVPN CEO Naina Subberwal Batra and SK Chambers' Shanthi Kandiah for a timely fireside discussion moderated by Tatler Malaysia General Manager, Sim Wie Boon
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AVPN CEO Naina Subberwal Batra followed with remarks that were equally candid. Having just returned from Jakarta, she shared an encounter that stayed with her: a young mother commuting up to three hours each way to work, with a four-month-old baby at home, having taken only the minimum statutory maternity leave. “Is it a wonder that women drop out of the workforce?” Naina asked the room. Her point extended beyond individual hardship. Without stronger legal frameworks and equal provisions for paternity leave, she argued, women would continue to be penalised for motherhood. “It’s only when the men also get paternity leave and are forced to take that paternity leave that they’re treated equally.”
Critical discussions
The centrepiece of the evening was a fireside discussion moderated by Sim Wie Boon, General Manager of Tatler Malaysia, featuring Naina and Shanthi Kandiah, founder of SK Chambers and a philanthropist in her own right, connected to the Creador Foundation. The conversation, themed around how social investment can better support women’s economic empowerment in times of crisis, moved with notable frankness.
Naina identified three structural gaps holding back progress. First, that social investment tends to fund outcomes rather than the root causes of inequality. Second, a striking 98.6 per cent of gender-focused funding globally still comes from public sources, with private capital, philanthropy and CSR collectively accounting for less than two per cent.
See also: Front & Female Awards 2026: A visual recap of the best moments
Third, that a persistent lack of gender-disaggregated data leaves investors unable to apply a meaningful gender lens, even when they wish to. “Investing with a gender lens doesn’t mean investing in businesses run by women,” she clarified. “It means investing in businesses that take into account women when they are making decisions.”
An exchange of impactful ideas
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Shanthi, drawing on her own non-linear career, offered a ground-level perspective. Her path had included stepping away from law after the birth of her second child, following her husband abroad for 11 years, and re-entering the profession at 42 as an associate at a top corporate law firm.
“I was told by many people that that is not something that’s the norm. No one really welcomes a 42-year-old into the organisation when they can hire somebody younger.” Her diagnosis of Malaysia’s challenge was pointed: “Our issue is not so much about the supply side. We have policies that prioritise education in women. The focus now is on the demand side,” meaning the structural conditions that determine whether women can sustain participation in the workforce over the long term.
The Asia Gender Network (AGN)
Front & Female cohorts, Natasha Alias and Viviantie Sarjuni
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Woven into the evening was a spotlight on AVPN’s Asia Gender Network (AGN), introduced by Naina and further represented by Deborah Foo, who leads the initiative. Launched in 2021, AGN is the first pan-Asian network dedicated to mobilising financial, intellectual and human capital for women and girls across the region. It currently brings together approximately 30 affluent Asian women from 11 countries, who have directed more than US$10 million collectively towards gender-focused initiatives since the network was launched.
AGN operates under AVPN’s broader Gender Equality Platform, which is working towards moving US$100 million in capital towards positive outcomes for women and girls by 2030. Its work spans economic empowerment, education, healthcare, women in leadership and livelihoods. Initiatives supported by the network include the Asia Gender Equality Fund, a pooled vehicle for women's economic empowerment, as well as research into gender inclusion in Asia-Pacific’s regulatory landscape.
Naina was clear that the AGN was conceived as distinctly Asian in its approach, favouring persuasion and coalition-building over confrontation. “The Asian way is much more about taking people along and using persuasion to change norms and change cultures,” she said, positioning AGN not as a militant movement but as a pan-Asian coalition built on shared purpose and Asian-led leadership.
Credits
Photography: Ravin Shanmugarajan @ Ravin's Awesome Pictures
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